A Picture of your Dream Job

Two Christmases ago, I got this…

And I couldn’t have been more thrilled.  And then I became overwhelmed.  It took great photos on auto, but I knew they could be even better on manual.  And then there is Photoshop.  Trying to learn how to really use my camera on manual settings and do the basics in Photoshop was about more than I could handle at first.  I’ve learned a lot since then, but I have a lot more to learn.  I love the idea of taking portraits for a side job, but at the same time, it scares me.  I don’t feel like I’m experienced enough to handle it.  More often than not, people want their picture taken for big events, or when they have a group of people together that don’t get to see each other very often.   That’s a lot of pressure, and as I discovered over Thanksgiving break, sometimes when you are under pressure, you blank out.  At least I did!  It was a good learning experience though, which everyone needs, right?  So for the next year, I’m going to go into “portfolio building” mode.  I want to try to do as many portraits as I can of different types… couples, teens, kids, families, babies, etc.  I’m hoping that if I practice enough, I’ll be ready to make some money off this hobby of mine in a year from now.  I’m also planning on signing up for some classes over at the local community college that start in January.  I’ll admit, I’m nervous about that too.  Every time I think about putting myself in a group setting with other photographers, I panic… but I just need to have more confidence in myself!  So, it’s official – if you know me and want me to take your pictures, I will!  Free of charge – as long as I can include any pictures I take of you or your family in my portfolio.  Win, win, right?

Portrait Class Recap

Things I learned in my Rec Center Photo Class:

1.  Try to do portraits during the “golden hour”… one hour before sunset.  And always have a reflector on hand.  The other “golden hour” of the day is one hour after sunrise, but I’m NOT a morning person, so not sure how often that will work out.

Check out how evenly lit Robin’s face is with the use of this reflector!  The sun is shining directly onto the left side of her face, but the reflector makes both sides look great!  (FYI, our teacher is a huge lover of “props”, hence the boxing gloves!)  Of course, for the real portrait, I would have made sure the reflector isn’t in the photo!

2.  Shoot in RAW.  I’ve always been afraid of RAW, but I shouldn’t have been.  It’s   A.  MAZE.  ING.  It does help to have a book (or person) to show you how do so some of the basics.  Shooting in “Manual” mode is important too.  Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don’t.  Manual is a real trial and error process. 

Above picture taken straight out of Camera (SOOC).  Below, same photo with a “vibrance boost” using the adjustment sliders in the RAW converter and then cropped.  Super easy and doesn’t look “over edited”.

3.  Be willing to invest in good photo editing software.  We all want great photos straight out of the camera, but in today’s world, editing is what gives your pics that extra “pop”. 

      

I’ve heard good things about Adobe Lightroom, but didn’t understand just how cool it was until I saw my teacher use it.  It is the ideal software for photographers who shoot in RAW format exclusively because you can do all your RAW adjustments in the program and then convert large batches of photos into JPEG (or other) formats with one command.  I would have asked for this for my birthday, but I really want a MAC too…. and all things must be purchased in order.  No sense in buying this program for my PC if I am going to be getting a MAC anytime soon.  I’m nothing if not patient. 

4.  Don’t leave home without the tripod.  You never know when you will need it.  None of us had a tripod for this shot, so we used the table.  Have you ever seen these kind of shots and wondered how they do it?  I’ll tell you… It’s a 15 second long shutter release.  The guy in the middle (our teacher) is holding as still as possible (which is why he’s not smiling) and someone else is running around him holding colored lights and waving them all over the place.  Awesome, no?  I can’t wait to try this with my kids, once I get my tripod fixed.

5.  Take More Classes!  Taking this one class rejuvenated my desire to go back to school.  I don’t want to get a degree or anything fancy, I just want to take some classes to solidify my knowledge base.  I’ve been reading all over blog-land how many fabulous photographers have “self taught” themselves, but I’ve come to realize that I just don’t have the right personality for that.  I enjoy figuring stuff out on my own, but I really prefer the classroom format where someone else is outlining the curriculum.  I found out that the nearest community college to me has a pretty decent number of photography/Photoshop classes.  And they have classes during the day that work for my schedule so I can still be free in the evenings for the kids.   Cheap and convenient?  Don’t think it gets much better than that! 

Comfort Zone

I was spotlighted today in Primary… you know the drill where they have everyone stand up and then when they say something that doesn’t describe you, you sit down?  Ultimately, when they are done reading all the clues there will be just one person left standing.  They started with “This person likes to go the movies and eat buttery popcorn with her family….”   I instantly knew it was me.  I remember writing that on my questionnaire.  FYI, I also like eating Cheese Enchiladas and Brownies.  My favorite primary song is Scripture Power, my favorite book of scripture is Alma (all sixty-something chapters), but oddly enough, my favorite Book of Mormon prophet is Abinadi.  When I “grow up”, I want to be a Photographer…  and I enjoy learning about Photoshop.   I was actually kind of embarrassed when that said that last part aloud.  I knew they would… because I did write it down, but when I heard it being said out loud today by someone else, it felt weird and overly ambitious. 

I was first exposed to photography my senior year in High School when I joined the Yearbook staff.  My neighbor was also on staff and she taught me a few things about developing film and making prints in the dark room.  I was fascinated by it.   Since then, I’ve dabbled off and on in the world of Photography, but never really jumped in with two feet.  After all, I got married during my sophomore year of college and had a baby 2 years later.  I was working full time and dreaming of the day I’d become a full-time stay-at-home-mom.  Being a mom has taken precedence over all my career ambitions, so it’s just been a hobby here and there when I had the time for it. 

Now that my youngest is in 1st grade, I feel like it’s time for me to have some kind of grown up life.  Part of me craves the opportunity to take some classes and really focus on my passion.  Part of me is terrified.  I’ve gotten so comfortable being a hobbyist, and a stay-at-home-mom that I am nervous about putting myself out there.  I’m nervous about being critiqued.  I’m nervous about actually working for real paying clients.  

But thank goodness for friends!  After hearing my spotlight today, a friend told me about a Photography class she signed up for at the local rec center.  It’s 5 weeks, 2 hours a week and super basic, focusing on portraits.  It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you have.  She is already signed up and encouraged me to join her if there are still spots left.  I came home, checked it out and YES!  there are still openings.  It starts Tuesday night, which is about the only night of the week that I don’t have other conflicts.  Double bonus! 

It’s time for me to stop fantasizing about being a Photographer and actually do something about it.  I have A LOT to learn, and I’m ready to take the plunge and get to work!   Thanks again, Robin, for the positive peer pressure.  This girl surely needed it!

April Showers

Yesterday it rained.  Rain in April is rare and a welcomed sight after the heat wave we had just a week ago.   I’m still trying to do that picture a week challenge from MCP (see the sidebar for a link) but some weeks are easier than others.  This week the challenge was to edit a photo using a new action set they are selling on their website.  There is a free mini version you can test out before you commit to buying.  Check out this edited version of the above photo.  This is why I must continue to learn Photoshop skills, or in this case, Photoshop cheats.  Amazing results!

In case you are still wondering, this is a picture of yesterday’s rain hitting the surface of my pool. 

FAQ

Every time I see ladies from church, the first question they ask me (without fail) is,

“So what are you doing with all your free time now that you aren’t Relief Society President?”

It’s a valid question.  For years, I fantasized about this day and wondered what my answer would be. 

The Short answer is this:  I’m playing “catch up” from the last 2 years.

The Long answer is, well…. LONG.   (I won’t have my feelings hurt if you stop reading now.)

For example, I was stunned this morning to realize it’s been nine days since I last posted on my blog.  Nine days!  When did that happen?  And I have my blog set as my home page so I see it often.  (I keep it as my home page so that I will remember to keep it up to date more… a reminder multiple times a day to not forget blogging.)  It’s not like I’m sitting on the couch all day watching Oprah and eating Bon-Bons.  (For the record, I lost all respect for Oprah a few years ago when she and Gail when on a Road-Trip where they had to drive themselves, check into regular hotels and eat average food, like the rest of us… what spoiled brats they were!)  I haven’t even had time to sit and watch TV yet this week!

This is what I have been working on for the last week.  It’s almost been six years since we bought this house… it’s about time I had a living room worthy of company.  It’s still not done yet, but progress is being made, finally!  It’s amazing what window treatments will do.  (A super shout out to my cousin-in-law, Tiffany, who inspired me finally with an idea that would look great in this room!)

I have this long list of projects and deep cleaning/dejunking chores that I want to whittle away at for the next several months.   Things like:

*finish I-spy quilt

*paper scrapbook the remainder of 2006

*digital scrap Jan-Aug 2009

*make a plan to scrap 2007-2008 (digital, paper, or both?)

*learn how to shoot in manual (on my camera)

*learn about clipping masks in PSE

*decorate laundry room

*window treatments for Taylor’s room and Game room

*take a magic eraser to my entire house (baseboards, doors, doorjambs, trim, stair rail, etc.)  I probably need 5-6 magic erasers to do this job

*clean windows, inside and out (I will have to hire someone eventually to clean my outside upper level windows)

*clean out dead plants from yard

*plant new plants where plants have died (most of my yard falls into this category)

*pull weeds from backyard

*exercise more regularly

*read scriptures daily, study Sunday lessons and read Ensign monthly

*write the life history of my Grandpa and continue to research his family tree

*de-junk closet under the stairs and guest room

And amidst all that, I am going to Science Camp with Ian in March,  we are planning for a Disneyland/San Diego trip over spring break, Girls Camp, EFY and Cub Scout Day Camp all in June and a visit home in late June, early July. 

Some of these chores will take less than an hour of time, some will take days and some are on-going daily things that will never go away.  I expect to feel like I am in a constant state of “catch-up” for the next six months… when summer break is ended and the kids start school again in late July, I think that might be the time that I actually start to get restless and bored… but with this list to work on, I will have plenty to keep me busy for a very, Very, VERY long time!

Odds 'N' Ends

It's been bugging me that I haven't blogged all week.  It's just been one of those weeks.  I've been frantically trying to catch up from everything that fell by the wayside when the kids were on Fall Break.  Two and a half weeks is TOO long.  It feels just right if you are planning some kind of vacay, but when you are stuck at home the whole time, it feels like an eternity! 

I've got projects and things I want to do piling up... and right now we are dog sitting for my mom and dad.  Charlie is staying with us while they visit D.C.  It's going to be an eye-opening experience.  I'm not used to little dogs.  I like everything about them, except two things.  (So far, it's only two...)  First, they run FAST, and it's no fun chasing them around the house when they are determined not to be caught.  Second, they have ear piercing yappy barks.  Everytime this dog barks, I jump out of my skin.  But you can't deny how cute he is.  I mean, he is seriously soooo cute!

One of my projects is to make an I-spy quilt.  Click here to see the inspiration.  Sweet Connie used to be in my ward and still lives nearby, so I took the time to drop my fabrics off in person so I could see her gorgeous quilt in person.  Isn't it awesome?  I really love it framed in white, but I'm terrified to actually do that.  With my kids, I know it would be a dingy mess in no time.  I won't have the time to dedicate to this project for at least a couple weeks, so I have some time to mull it over and make a decision.  But today my quilt squares arrived in the mail - aren't they super cute?

Today I spent the day camped out on the couch, watching some old stuff back logged on the DVR and downloading new Photoshop Elements Actions from this website.  (Thanks, Lindsey, for the heads-up!)The thing I love the most about this blog is that she gives a tutorial with each action so you can learn how to do things without hours and hours of trial and error.  It seriously took me all day and I'm still not done yet.  I still haven't uploaded them into PSE.  Hopefully I will have time for that tomorrow.  I could never justify that much "couch time" normally, but I'm nursing a sore shoulder.  On Monday morning, I noticed some stiffness and soreness in my right shoulder.  I ignored it, continued to exercise and live life in my normal routine, and by Monday night, it was worse.  Tuesday it was even worse when I woke up.  I was careful with it all day yesterday and it's still not any better today.  You don't realize how important certain muscle groups are until you get hurt.  The worst part about it is that I don't even know what I did that caused this.  I have an appointment with a sports medicine doctor in the morning to find out how serious it is, and more importantly if it's going to ruin my plans to do a triathlon on November 6.  As I sit right now, there's no way on earth I can do the swim.  Hopefully he'll have good news for me tomorrow!  Please keep your fingers crossed... I've already shelled out the money for the tri and I want that t-shirt, bad.  And you don't get the shirt until you cross the finish line.  I will be really mad if I have to pull out.  Right now it's time for me to test the power of positive thinking, no?  I mean, yes?

It's All About the Actions....

So, I am going to attempt to explain how I learned what I did to edit the family photos we took last week.  First let me start off by telling you what I have to work with.  My computer runs on Windows 7 and I have Photoshop Elements 8 installed on it.  I took the photos with my Nikon D90 using my 50mm f1.8 lens.  This lens is a must have for portraits... I can't tell you how much I love it.  And it's affordable... for either the Nikon or the Canon the lens is less than $125.  A professional photographer recommended the 50mm f1.4 lens, which I imagine is way, way, WAY better, but it costs 3 times a much as this one, so I will wait a while to upgrade.   If you don't want or need to know how to do this, just skip the reading and scroll down to see the before and afters.



Brayden (before)



Brayden (after)

 So the first Photoshop tutorial I read came from this website/blog.   I can't remember how I first found this blog, but I love it.  She covers all kinds of fun and creative things... photography, photoshop, simple sewing, crafting, recipes, and she makes fonts out of real people's handwriting.  How cool is that?   The exact article can be found here.  Unfortunately for me, Amanda works in the full version of photoshop, so not all the commands are the same for PSE.   Amanda gets her "actions" from the Pioneer Woman Blog/Website.  I will admit, I've heard of Pioneer Woman, but never really visited her page.  Holy crap, have I been missing out! 



Ian (before)



Ian (after)

 Okay, so now you should click on over to the Pioneer Woman website following this link.  You'll find a page with lots of links on it depending on what type of operating system you have and what version of PSE you have.  I downloaded both sets of actions that work with my computer and then clicked on over to another article to get the instructions on how to install the "actions".   I watched the video tutorial on how to install the actions into PSE, followed the instructions, and it worked perfectly.


Megan (before)



Megan  (after)

Once you've installed the actions in PSE it's play time.  They should show up on the right side "effects" listing.  You can pull up your photo in the editing pane, create a duplicate layer, and click on the different actions to see what they do.  There is one for starting over, which takes your picture back to the original, and one to flatten the image so it can be saved as a jpeg. 

Okay, if you are still with me, this is the big one.   The edit that made me go "WOW"!   The worst part about it, is that I can't remember how I did it.  This is the first photo I played around with.  I was so in love with this pose of Taylor but the picture was so washed out and dull.  It was so disappointing.  So I felt like I had nothing to lose and starting layering action upon action upon action... and I started over a few times too... but in the end this is what I came up with.  I LOVE it.  I mean, I really, really LOVE it.


Taylor (before)




Taylor (after)

 So, there you have it.  Everything I know about PSE actions, (which really is very, very little).  Over the next few weeks I'll probably be scouring the internet looking for more websites with different actions I can download.  I know I've just scratched the surface with this stuff, but I'm itching for more!   The next time I can spend an hour on the computer together with my brother-in-law Matt, I plan to pick his brain like crazy... he's fresh out of Graphic Design school and will definately be a pro at this kind of stuff!  Watch out Matt!  ;-)

Can you Say "Break Through"?

Last week, I took the fam to a local gated community to borrow the gorgeous landscaping for some "family photos".   They are getting better about this... they know the more they cooperate, the quicker the process will be and the shorter they have to put up with me.  I'd already scoped out this great location a few days before, but when we got there, guess what?  They had just watered the lawn.  Everything was wet, the grass, the rocks, everything!  So some of my pose plans went out the window, because I'm not mean enough to make them lay in wet grass.  Oh well... anyway, the above shot was the best of the group shot I took of the four kids together.  The rock was cool that they were sitting on, but the sun was behind them, low in the sky, and it left all the lovely sun streaks across the picture.  Once I got home and looked at them on the computer screen, I was sure I was going to have to do a re-shoot. 

But in a sheer moment of desperation, I went to a blog/website that I know has had photoshop tutorials in the past.  I don't have full blown photoshop, but I was hoping I could glean enough info from the tutorial to make a difference in this photo using my lower grade, but still awesome, Photoshop Elements.

I was reading through the post, and enough things were different about the program, that I was starting to think there was no way this would ever help me, when I discovered a note at the bottom of the post.  Some wonderful bloggers took it upon themselves to do some creative work and convert photoshop "actions" to work in PSE. 

So a few clicks later, a few articles later, and one video tutorial later, I was editing my photos in ways I'd never dreamed possible.  Seriously... take a look at the after of the above shot:

Talk about taking a negative and turning it into a positive.... before I hated the sun streaks, now I think they look cool.   Here's one more before and after, taken with my tri-pod... yay... my kids are all old enough now to know where to look for a picture with a tri-pod.  How awesome is that?  And honestly, the before picture I think is pretty good.  But the after picture is so much better.  The colors are so vibrant and rich.  I love it!

I know you are going to be dying to know how I figured all this out, so over the next day or two, I'm going to write a post with links to each blog and or website I found information on.   And I will reveal my favorite edit of them all... which is funny that it's my favorite, because I can't remember how I did it, so I wasn't able to duplicate the effects on the rest of the shots.  I've decided I need to keep a notebook for photoshop projects so that I  can write down each step of the editing process so if I want to duplicate that look on another photo, I know what to do.   Stay tuned for more and exciting info to come very soon!

I Spy

Well, for now, my fight with Windows has been resolved.   Photoshop Elements (also known as PSE) is working again, and I am happy.  But, I told Eric in no uncertain terms that my next computer will be a Mac.  I have wanted a Mac for years, and every time we are computer shopping, our frugal side wins out and we never end up buying a Mac.  I don't care how long I have to wait, my next computer will be a Mac. 

I slept in workout sweats last night so I could do any early morning photo shoot after I dropped off Taylor at school today.  I will have to be up way earlier if I want to attempt any more photos of Sunrise... missed that boat over Spring Break.  I don't care... sleeping in for two weeks was worth the cost.  I wanted to get some photos of the rustic trains at our local Railway Museum, but wouldn't you know it, at 6:30 a.m. the gates were locked.  How rude!  So I headed over to my trusty standby location, a very large park close to our house.  There's tennis courts, a huge play area, cool rocks and plenty of places to take pictures.

I only had a few minutes before I had to be home to get kids ready for school, but I took some pictures of this fence. And then I came home and really gave PSE a good trial run.   See if you can spot the changes I made from the first picture to the second:

Fence Photo #2 from a different angle:  what did I change here?  I will give you a hint - there are two changes.  One of them I am super pleased with.  The other one, I will need to practice, or try a different tool/technique.  It didn't really come out the way I wanted it, but again, I was pressed for time this morning.

We are having one of the best Springs ever in Phoenix this year.  It's been cool and rainy.  Accordingly, allergies are horrific, but I think the blessings of good weather are worth the cost.   It was so cool this morning, I was regretting flip flops and short sleeves.  Next time I bring the camera for an early morning photo shoot, I will definitely have tennis shoes on, and bring a sweater in the car, just in case. 

Dawn in the Desert

Now that I'm getting up at 6 a.m. each morning, I really have no excuse not to get some great early morning shots.  I took all these photos from the comfort of my car while wearing my PJ's... maybe next week, I'll get dressed, wear real shoes, and actually get out of the car for a minute to get some better stuff.

This was the last picture I took, and it was my favorite.  I really love the silhouette of the palm tree in front of the sky.  But the colors in the photo weren't as vibrant as they were in real life, so I decided to give Photoshop a whirl and see what it could do.  This is the original.

Photoshop step #1:  crop.  Done... much better... now you can't see the bank in the parking lot.

Photoshop step #2:  tweak the colors... blue is more blue, yellow is more yellow.  Love it!

Things I want to learn how to do?  Get rid of pesky things in my photos like stop signs and power lines.  I know it can be done... but that's a couple hundred pages into my "how to" book, and I'm only on page 33. 

On a side note... it took me FOREVER to get these photos from my camera into my blog.  First, photoshop isn't "auto downloading" anything, so I had to do the process manually.  Second, Blogger won't upload any new photos from my hard drive unless I upload them to picassa first.  Am I the only one who is having this problem?  Am I the only one who doesn't upload all their photos into picassa?  I'm finding the new format in the blog window a bit difficult to work with.  Is it just me?

I Need a Dummies Book for my Dummies Book...

Back in November, when Eric got me my new Camera, the Nikon D90, he also got me this book to go with it. It has been a lifesaver. Of course, it's 350 pages thick of tips, tricks and how-to's... and you can only swallow it in small increments or you will never be able to remember anything you read.

I spent another couple of hours working in my Photoshop Elements program today. I made a new blog header, using a picture of my kids taken at a park (which had a very noisy background that I ended up hating) and layering it onto a picture of some greenery, that I believe my parents took while vacationing in Alaska. I hope they don't mind me stealing the photo for my artistic experimentation...

I've been using this book to help me learn more about Photoshop Elements (PSE). It's not easy, even with a Dummies book. I'm not entirely sure it's their fault, because PSE has a reputation for not being user friendly, but sometimes I feel like I need a dumbed down version of the dummies book. It gets a little bit maddening and my head starts to swim after a while, so I can only do this in small doses.

As I was debating whether or not to invest the money in this book (instead of eternally borrowing the library's copy, which I can't take notes in or mark up the pages,) I went onto amazon to read the reviews. And I am thinking about purchasing this book instead. It gets better reviews than the dummies counterpart. I think this will merit a trip to the local bookstore so I can peruse through both books side by side to see which one will be the winner.

The maddening thing about getting back into Photography after a 10 year hiatus is that so much has changed. Digital has taken over everything, even though my photography teacher at SJCC swore digital would never be as good as film. I wonder if she ever changed her mind about that.

So not only do I have to learn how to use a complex camera that has about 300 more shooting options than my first SLR (the Pentax ME Super), but I also have to learn how to edit photos on the computer using some form of Photoshop. It's so much information overload. I don't know where to start... the camera or photoshop? I've been dabbling in both, and I'm not sure that's a good way to do it.

But if I can ever wrap my head around some of these new digital concepts, I can see lots of fun times ahead... I guess I will just have to keep plugging away, experimenting and having fun... someday it will all come together, right?

Photoshop Elements for Dummies

Using the above named book that I checked out at the library last week, I did these blog headers today. Which one do you like better?